Spraoi Chiarraí: Traditional Irish music summer concerts

Spraoi Chiarraí

If you’re a fan of Irish traditional music or  just interested in widening your musical palette then it’s good news because Spraoi Chiarraí are kicking off the first of their summer concerts in Killarney at the beginning of next month. Spraoi Chiarraí is a Killarne-based traditional music, song and dance performance collective fostering the finest local talent. They’ve had great success organising summer concerts in Killarney for the last 9 summers and they’re back this year with another round of exciting shows. The best news of all is the admission to these concerts is totally free so you have absolutely no excuse not to sample some of Killarney’s finest young musical talents.

The concerts will be running throughout the summer and their first concert is on Saturday the 7th June in St Mary’s Church of Ireland (Not to be confused with St Mary’s Cathedral, this is the church opposite the Plaza Hotel at the beginning of Main Street). This concert will be led by local musician Tim O’Shea and accompanying him will be his traditional collective featuring many young and upcoming local traditional musicians. Instruments featured in the performance will include fiddles, harps, uileann pipes, flute & whistles, harmonicas and guitars. This concert has been running for years and has proved very popular among locals and tourists alike. Admission is free as I mentioned and the concert begins at 8pm.

In addition to this, three days later on the 10th June, St Mary’s Church of Ireland will be hosting the Kirkwood Children’s Chorale from Kirkwood, Missouri, USA for a special concert. This is also part of the Spraoi Chiarraí summer concerts. There are over 100 members of this choir and they’re sure to be eager to impress a new audience. Admission to this concert is also free and it begins at 8pm.